Saturday, January 28, 2017

November 24-28, 2017 - Bozeman & Three Forks, MT

This was the last week of our visit with Keri and her family before we leave for Florida on the 29th of November.

On the 26th we went to Bozeman, MT to have the Jeep cleaned and washed. Edith wanted to take some side trips outside of Bozeman to see if there were any hidden gems or interesting things to get pictures of. We spotted few deer, saw few old barns, admired the sunset.

White-tailed Buck

Mule Deer

Erwin's version - On the 27th of November this was the LAST day of hunting for me and Dustin. We both had not had any luck in getting elk the past week. Dustin told me that we would have to leave very early in the morning and go to where we are allowed to hunt. We arrived at the hunting site half hour before shooting time starts and waited for it to get light so we can see. Dustin's dad stopped by and they talked a few minutes and he said he had not seen any elk or deer in any places he searched. He then left after wishing us good luck. A few minutes later Dustin noticed a Guide whom he knew taking his clients down the road and into the private land that he had leased for hunting. He said, "They know something" and followed them and watched them crawl through the fence. Then Dustin tapped me on the shoulder excitedly and pointed further down the road, there were like 15-20 elk in the field! Dustin stepped on the gas and sped down to the fence, slamming on the brakes, skidding to a stop and told me to shut the gate and lock the truck. Dustin hurriedly put on his orange vest and grabbed his rifle and started running across the field. I tried to lock the truck but I couldn't find the keys so I put the valuables under cover. I didn't want to lock the truck cause I didn't know where the keys were. I put my orange vest on and grabbed my rifle and started across the field following Dustin, he was already way down there. As I crossed the field, I saw 3 hunters laying down and pointing their rifles at the fleeing elk. Then Bam, Bam, bam......bam bam...I saw one elk fall and the others went over the fence and down the hill out of sight, Dustin soon went down after them. I hurried as fast as I could and was very much out of breath by time I got to the fence and crossed it, I see Dustin way down there to the right and was aiming towards the elk. I noticed one seemed to be limping and her rear leg was flopping, then Dustin shot and that elk fell! He looked back and gestured to me to shoot, shoot, shoot. I tried but was huffing and puffing too badly to take a steady aim, I took a deep breath and tried to steady my breathing but was still shaking too much so I put my steady rest down firmer and took a better aim and noticed something out of the corner of my eye to the left. I looked and there lay a dead cow elk! I wondered if it had been there from yesterday? I went and poked it, she was soft and warm, so was fresh. I looked to Dustin and he gestured "Shoot to back of head". I waved my arms and pointed down to the elk. He couldn't see so raised his binoculars and said "What?" Then he saw the elk laying there and signed "Tag it". Another hunter walked by me and said "Congratulations". I waited several minutes to see if any other hunters would come by and say, "Hey, that's my elk". No one came by and my Mama didn't raise no fool, I tagged the cow elk, it's mine! We dropped our elk at the Yellowstone Wild Game Processing plant. They will process it it for us and call us when it is ready for pickup!

Our 2 elk

Who would want to put a deer on the roof of a fancy car?The photo was posted on a wall at wild game processing plant

About Me

Erwin was born in Minnesota, went to/graduated from Minn Deaf School. Spent 11 years working for General Electric before he decided to become a welder.
Edith was born in Florida. Went to/graduated from FL School for the Deaf. Graduated with B.S. in Home Economics from Gallaudet College (now University).
Worked as a management analyst for Dept of Agriculture, retired after 31 years of service. Moved back to FL in 2004. Sold our house in 2016 to start RVing full-time.